Plastic Toys Made in the USA? Get outta here!

Just when you thought that every plastic toy manufacturer had shipped operations overseas, I've actually found TWO of them that continue to manufacture toys here in the USA.

My in-laws stumbled upon American Plastic Toys, Inc. in Walled Lake, MI. They bought the giant dump truck for my son for a gift. Tragically, it was broken right out of the box.

They called the company, and the company immediately shipped another truck to them. This second one has proven to be very sturdy and a huge hit. It holds a lot of stuff in the back, and unlike the two other dump truck toys we have, the back dump bed is a true box that holds whatever gets tossed into there without spilling. So he can pile of ton of blocks or train-tracks or whatever into it and zoom around with it.

And then, thanks to Todd at MadeinUSAforever.com,  I found Green Toys. Their products are Made in USA AND Made of 100% recycled plastic. It makes me almost giddy to see something as awesome as this. I must confess that we have not bought any of their trucks, simply because we have so many big trucks already. But I am wanting to buy some for someone else, to support this great company. I'm thinking I'll buy the recycle truck to give it as a gift or donate it to Toys-for-Tots.

Anyone else know of any other great plastic toys still made in the USA?

Best Mac & Cheese EVER

From the time I was little, I never liked Mac & Cheese. It seemed like a great concept -- I love cheese and I love noodles -- but it always tasted gritty to me. Yuck.

I decided to give Mac & Cheese another go now that I've got a toddler. So, I went to the store and randomly grabbed a few brands. I started to try each one. Yuck, yuck, yuck ... WAIT. One of them tasted good. GREAT, in fact. I pondered the box and suddenly realized the difference. The one that I liked was WHITE CHEDDAR, not standard yellow.  I experimented with several brands that do white cheddar and found them to be universally great.


With  this new found knowledge, I spent some time studying every type of macaroni product on the shelves. I was intrigued by a white cheddar & broccoli one that I saw, but I wasn't intrigued by the extra cost or the extra salt content. Then it occurred to me ... I bet I can make this myself.

Thus was born my toddlers absolute favorite lunch food, that I munch right along side of him. All you need on hand is your favorite brand of white cheddar mac & cheese (I like Annie's Homegrown Shells & White Cheddar, 6-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 24)) and some broccoli (we get a giant bag of frozen broccoli from COSTCO, so that we can just reach in and grab some).

1.  Boil the Water
2. Toss in the Broccoli, first
3. Then toss in the Pasta once the water is back to a boil
4. Boil for however many minutes the pasta calls for
5. Then mix in the cheese sauce, taking care to break up the broccoli as you mix

All Done! Instant, delicious lunch!

Costco Rotisserie Chicken to the Rescue!

Costco has some really great deals, but nothing probably as great as its rotisserie chicken.

For just about $5, you get a tasty roasted chicken that is hormone free. So, you can just pick it up and have a quick chicken meal, or use it to make chicken salad or some other dish.

THEN, you can toss the carcass into a crock pot, simmer it for 12 hours, and get about 12 cups of great stock to use for soups. If you bought stock in the store, this would probably cost you between $5-$10. So, it makes the chicken even MORE economical.

I must admit that while I do love baking my own chicken, you really can not beat a rotisserie for most occasions. Anyone else do creative meal prep with pre-cooked chicken?

Zappos.com = SPEEDY

A fast post to honor a fabulously fast interaction this week with Zappos.com:

• Wednesday: 11:00pm: I order a pair of shoes. I choose 'Free Shipping'
• Thursday: 2pm: Shoes arrive at my doorstep in Virginia from their main distribution center in Kentucky.

WOW. I've never had anything arrive that fast, ever. That was AMAZING.